Maya, Stewie, Paige … and now Sarah Strong. Count her among UConn's most elite freshmen

New York Times

06-04-2025

TAMPA, Fla. — Azzi Fudd missed most of UConn's summer workouts while continuing to rehab her knee. But a few days into playing alongside star freshman forward Sarah Strong, Paige Bueckers came to her pal Fudd with a mini scouting report on the Huskies' newest rookie.
'Paige was like, 'Oh, my gosh. She's really good,'' Fudd, a graduate guard, recalled Bueckers reporting.
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'And I was like, 'really?' I'd heard all the coaches talk about her during her recruitment process, but I hadn't really seen it because I wasn't out there.'
Strong — a woman of many points and rebounds but very few words — had come to UConn around late August not totally knowing what to expect from her inaugural season. The Durham, N.C., native had hoped she'd adjust quickly. She wanted to make an impact for Geno Auriemma's storied program.
But when her teammates noticed how quickly she grasped UConn's offense in those summer workouts — and all of the nuances that come with it — they had a feeling she'd be no ordinary freshman. That conclusion was correct.
Friday in Tampa, Strong scored 22 points in UConn's blowout victory against top overall seed UCLA, becoming just the third freshman in program history behind Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore to drop 20-plus in a Final Four game.
With 22 points tonight, Sarah Strong becomes one of three freshman in UConn history to score 20+ points in a #WFinalFour game:
◽️ Breanna Stewart◽️ Maya Moore◽️ Sarah Strong pic.twitter.com/Mxgk5PWSrk
— The Athletic WBB (@TheAthleticWBB) April 5, 2025
If UConn wins the national championship Sunday afternoon against No. 1 seed South Carolina, sure, it will most likely be because Bueckers had a day. But Strong is just as critical for the Huskies — up there with the best of the best when it comes to UConn's most impressive freshmen and the X-factor for Auriemma's team all season long.
'It wasn't easy,' said Strong, who averages 16.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. 'It definitely took a while. Took a lot of going to my family and coaches. (But) I would just say, every day at practice, I would get more confident in myself and get more comfortable doing the things I did in high school.'
Strong was the top-rated recruit in the Class of 2024 out of Grace Christian School and grew up in the ultimate basketball family. Her mother, Allison, starred for Harvard, then was a WNBA teammate of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. Her father, Danny, played at NC State.
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Just thinking about the poor suckers who had to guard her in high school makes Fudd pity them. When Auriemma watched Strong play as a five-star recruit, he knew the potential was there for the 6-foot-2 forward who is just as dangerous from the 3-point line as she is when she's spin-moving her way to the basket.
Sarah Strong spin cycle 🔁 pic.twitter.com/xTV5iE2e33
— UConn Women's Basketball (@UConnWBB) April 1, 2025
Neither of them realized the transition would go this smoothly, though.
'I saw her do things that I hadn't seen any kid that age do in a long, long, long time,' Auriemma said. 'I said, 'If this can transfer, even half of it, to when she's at UConn, we've got something pretty special.
'I thought it would take some time. But it clicked right from the very beginning. There was no doubt in my mind that we (would) enter the NCAA Tournament and I'm worried about, 'Man, I hope she doesn't act like a freshman.' She hasn't acted like a freshman, she hasn't acted her age since I saw her in ninth and 10th grade. I'm not surprised.'
Strong, who has scored 20-plus points in three of UConn's five tournament games to this point, enters the South Carolina matchup on the heels of 44 combined points and 25 total rebounds against USC and UCLA. Bueckers was a superstar freshman in her own right — winning Naismith Player of the Year honors in her inaugural campaign — as were Stewart and Moore. But Strong already has more rebounds than any other freshman in program history with 341 — 45 more than Tina Charles' 296 mark in 2006-07. With 633 points, she is second on the all-time UConn freshman scoring list, only behind Moore's 678 points in 2007-08. Her 137 assists are second to Bueckers' 168 in 2020-21, and her 63 blocks rank fourth among Huskies rookies.
Staley recruited Strong as a high school prospect, hoping her friendship with Allison Strong would help South Carolina more than it ultimately did. But the Gamecocks got in late on Strong, who at that point was lasered in on UConn. Now they're on the other end — stuck with having to find answers for her Sunday afternoon.
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'Sarah is … how do I say this?' Staley said Saturday. 'In the next three years, she might be the best player to come out of UConn. And those are strong words.
'But what she's able to do — stay calm, the IQ is off the charts, the skill set off the charts. Big play after big play after big play. Such a great complement to an already-skilled UConn team. I think she's the piece that puts it all together. She makes it work.'
Indeed, Sunday could come down to Strong, who has been the one-two punch with Bueckers the Huskies have needed to return to the national title game. Next year's team should be in her hands, too.
Count Fudd among those who can't wait to watch it all unfold.
'I can't even think. She is so incredible right now. And to know that she's only going to get better being here, learning from the coaches, being in this program, she's already the best player, she's already unguardable, already so smart. Passes so well. Sees the floor so well. She's a great defender. So I'm like, what can she get better at, really?' Fudd said.
'But the sky is the limit for her. And I can't wait to have another season with her.'